A great way to teach story is through song! Think back to your summer days and nights in camp where we sang and acted out parts of silly songs and serious ballads. We wanted to include songs that definitely had a beginning, middle, and end and could be easily adapted by these creative kids. As storytelling teachers, we knew that gestures, motions, and vocabulary had to be experienced first in order to understand and have fun with each song. That's not always so easy when you have blind children who have never seen with their eyes or experienced the actions. We had fun! Repetition in the song was important to use so here's what we included this year:

1. "We're Going On a Bear Hunt."2." Herman the Worm"3. "What Do You Do With a Brand New Sailor" (we changed the original Irish bar song of "What do You do with a Drunken Sailor) - Such a catchy tune we all loved so we had to use it!!!!

"What Do You Do with a Brand New Sailor?"

One of my all time fun Irish pub songs to sing at the Renaissance Festival is "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor" because of its catchy tune. I thought why not have our storytelling kids come up with their own "appropriate" lyrics that told an engaging story out on the sea. Once I taught the first verse and refrain to the kids, they had a blast working together coming up with a sequenced story song! Great team work and I think our story changed about three times. Suspense was a must so we started with sea monsters, then a Tsunami, and I think we ended up with "strong winds blowing."

Each day we reviewed life on a ship before there were cruise liners and engines. Vocabulary and gestures were learned and practiced such as:

1. Throwing the anchor over board (we had to discuss the heaviness of an anchor and its purpose and how it was attached to a heavy metal chain)2. "Hoist the sails" - we practiced pulling down on an imaginary rope. We definitely needed a real rope to use with each child so they could feel where their hands were placed so pantomiming would be easier.3. Saluting the captain 4. Hold on tight5. Swab the deck - We used a broom first and then pantomimed the action

We also created our own ships with sails, anchors, crow's nests, and mermaids. I wish I would have taken more pictures but here's one with your youth teller and volunteer, Gloria Kunnapilly, helping Leo with his ship. I hope the sails got fixed since they're both facing each other - haha.

Our video of the kids' story is below. They really worked at this and did a fantastic job. You'll see the difficulty some had but what a great learning experience they won't forget!

"We also incorporated our musical instruments with as many stories as the kids thought would work. One of our successes was with the story "Problems, Problems, Problems." While one of our tellers told the tale, our other members used the following instruments at the right times:wood blocks - They were hit right after our teller would introduce her title: Problems(Blocks hit once)Problems(blocks hit once) Problems (Blocks hit once.)rainstick - mosquitoswooden frog and stick - frogsrattles - snakes

A full week of fun activities geared toward telling folktales and personal tales was had by all of our camp participants. This was my second year to be asked to facilitate the art of storytelling with blind and low vision kids at the San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind and vision impaired. I partnered up with friend Sara Pacina who's talent lies in drama/theater so we could combine storytelling and theater to create unique opportunities for these enthusiastic children that ranged in age from 3rd to 6th grade. We knew there would be obstacles such as reading text, movement, and drawing so we planned ahead knowing that flexibility was the key to success. I'd like to share with you over the next few blog posts our storytelling activities and skill building that led to our culminating storytelling concert held on Friday, June 22. I'm hoping you'll gather how much fun it was to work with a diverse group of children who truly loved every moment with each other and took in every activity with gusto! Please feel free to use our activities in your classrooms, camps, workshops and modify them to fit your needs.

We would sit in a circle each morning around our campfire in the library and begin our day of stories and songs. Of course, we had to create the wood burning fire with our imagination. We rubbed our hands together to create the sound of kindling burning while we blew lightly into our hands. Once our fire got going we made sure the kindling was under the larger logs. As the fire grew, we would snap our fingers to create sparks and fire pops from the logs. We'd smack the top of our fisted hand with our other hand. I would guild them through the visual to make sure all could see the fire in their imaginations. And then the storytelling could begin. I modeled storytelling with my favorite easy folktale called "Dark, Dark Woods."

"Dark, Dark Woods" Storyboard Activity

Click HERE for a version of this short folktale which is a jump tale. I tell the bare bones of the tale and try not to add too much detail so I can teach the kids how to create a storyboard with the story sequenced correctly. The kids love this scary story and will easily decide what is in the dark, dark box (ghost, mouse, black widow spider, ants, scorpions - yuck) Be ready for anything!​ DIRECTIONS: 1. From our campfire, we move to the tables so 8.5" x 11" individual sheets of paper can be handed to each child. We fold the paper into 6 equal boxes.2. We number the boxes 1 - 6 from left to right. The first box is typically where we write the TITLE of the story and it's author, if known.3. Every story has a beginning, middle, and end so we discuss how important it is to make sure we know the beginning and the end. So, we talked about what was most important to remember in the beginning of the tale and at the end of the tale. We write and draw pictures on boxes 2 and 6. I relate this learning a joke: you have to know the beginning of a joke and then the punchline of a joke or you don't have a joke!4. Finally, we fill in the remaining boxes, which is really the plot (boxes 3-5) We talk about this together around our table and then fill them all in with help given when needed. Our blind kids were amazing. Leo used Wikki Stix to create his pictures and used a braille typer to write down his bare bones of the story.4. We paired up and told "Dark, Dark, Woods" to each other using our new storyboards. Here's some pictures:​

Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss' book Stories in My Pocketis one of the best short story collections to teach storytelling to children because great tips are written on the right side of story text to help the kids with voice and gestures. I knew reading this small font was going to be a huge problem for our young tellers so I got permission for Mitch and Martha to record a handful of their tales so the kids had easy listening access to the stories. The link to my recordings is HERE.

The San Antonio Lighthouse Director of Children Services, Carrilee Adkins gave us access to their iPads and individual earbuds for each child to listen to the stories. They were so engrossed with listening that we felt pretty certain that they were able to hear each of the six stories that I had chosen. Each story is quite short - almost a barebones story which turned out perfect because we were able to help the kids add detail and description to the story/stories they each ended up choosing.

After taking time to listen to these stories over two days at camp, the kids got busy writing down their barebones on the folded six box storyboard that was described above using "The Dark, Dark Woods." The folktales chosen by each child were the ones we helped them out with for the remainder of the week through skill building activities and games. Please tune into my next post to hear all about them.

I'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to ask questions, give out more ideas and activities. We will all benefit!

The Chinese New Year begins on February 16, 2018 this year based on the lunar calendar and I'm excited to say that it will be "the year of the Earth Dog." I was born in 1958 so my zodiac animal is also the dog.

All of you cat lovers are probably wondering why Cat is not part of the twelve zodiac animals. Cat was late to the race! Here's the tale:The Great Race - found here.

Long ago in ancient China, legend has it that the Jade Emperor announced a great race of all the animals in order to determine who would become part of the calendar - and that the 12 who arrived first would be selected. At the time, the cat and the rat were good friends. When they heard the news, the cat said to the rat: "We should arrive early to sign up, but I usually get up late."The rat promised to wake his pal up so they could go together but, because he was so excited, forgot and went alone.On the way, the rat bumped into the tiger, ox, horse and other animals - who were all much faster than him.He hatched a plan and convinced the ox to carry him on his back - on the condition that the rat sang throughout the journey.The ox arrived first, but the rat sneaked in front of him and became the first lucky animal.By the time the cat arrived, the selection was over - which is why the cat hates the rat and will always try to chase and kill him.

I am frequently asked to incorporate fun interactive writing workshops into my storytelling day at elementary schools and have had a blast using simple folktales that most kids are familiar with, including ELL students. The tales I use are Goldilocks and the Three Bears andThe Three Little Pigs. I assure the 3rd and 4th graders that although these are tales we've heard since we were babies it's now time to add the details through strong verbs, perfect nouns, and awesome adjectives. It takes storytelling power to create a new visual interpretation of these tales!

Sharing stories, anecdotes, problem solving, and summarizing are all part of successful writing which means storytelling has to happen in every writing classroom. I ask the kids to "Pair Share" which is a protocol to turn to some one right next to you and one partner at a time summarizes The Three Little Pigs the way they remember it. This way EVERYONE has the opportunity to share! If needed, share the story yourself or read it out loud.

Here comes the fun part! Once everyone recalls the barebones of the tale, I ask the kids to draw the three bowls of porridge (oatmeal) in their writing notebooks as their graphic organizers. I ask "Why did Goldilocks say the large bowl was too hot? What made it hot? Here, I use the protocol "TIPS" aka Think, Ink, Pair, Share. All the kids think (no talking), and then jot down their own ideas to answer my question. Next, they pair-share with their partner. At this point, they are encouraged to add any new ideas that their partner talked about to there own. Now, as a large group, I ask for partners who loved their ideas to share out to the entire group. It's pretty amazing what happens. I write down what is said on my projected iPad or large white board so all can see. Great vocabulary comes out - verbs, nouns, and adjectives.

Typically the elements of each bowl of porridge is detailed (heat hot, freezing cold, and perfectly warm). So, I guide there thoughts to ingredients that might have added to Goldilock's comments. Too hot could have meant Ghost peppers, cayenne peppers, jalepeno peppers, etc. The kids go crazy over this for each bowl. The graphic organizers are filled with ideas contributing to each bowl of porridge. I believe the favorite ones are Pappa Bear's and Baby' Bear's bowls. What would the most perfect bowl of porridge have in it? Well, it's been reported that cinnamon sugar, banana pieces, chocolate chips, topped with whipped cream, coconut shreds and a you guessed it - cherry on top!!

Finally piece - Everyone pretends to be Goldilocks/Guido and spouts out the details of each bowl with pazzaz! So much fun! We then write down in sentences that piece of the folktale!

More?? Sure! Have the kids move on to the chairs and the beds of course!By the end of the week, you should have whoppers of tales!

I'm presenting a Storytelling 101 Workshop for the 13th Annual UTSA Storytelling Festival tomorrow and wanted to share the resources on my blog with all who are interested. With only 40 - 45 minutes to present I figured it would be pretty easy to place the Power Point here along with some of my favorite resources for getting started.

Listening Resources

Below are a handful of listening opportunities for you to gather tales.

Once upon a Saturday—this Saturday in fact!—San Antonio Storytellers Association will present Story Tellabration!tm, a free family festival of stories at Mission Branch Library. Come one, come all on Saturday, November 12 from 2:00 until 6:00 p.m.

Story Tellabration!tm is an afternoon filled with traditional, live, oral storytelling performed by six San Antonio Storytellers and their special guest, “The Urban Griot,” Decee Cornish of Fort Worth. Hear trickster tales, wonder tales, legends, ghost stories, nursery tales for the little ones, and more on two story stages at the award-winning Mission library located right next to Mission San Jose/San Antonio Missions National Park and World Heritage site.

Featured Storyteller Cornish will be joined by Mark Babino, MaryAnn Blue, Mary Grace Ketner, Sue Kuentz, Ryan McPherson, Carolina Quiroga-Stultz, Doug Elliott and youth storytellers from Lopez Middle School and St. Mary’s Hall. These yarnspinners will bring you Tickle me Tales, Cuentos y Stories, Far Away Tales, Texas Y’all Tales, “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh, No!” and more. As the sun begins to set during that last hour, the library’s shadowy south patio will set the stage for ghost stories, spooky tales and eerie legends for all ages. Bring someone to hold your hand!

City Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran will welcome you at 2:00 and invite you to stay all afternoon to enjoy story crafts, cookies and fruit chews from Whataburger and goodies from HEB, costumed story characters offering you “Keep Stories Alive” bracelets, hats and props for story selfies and, of course, live story adventures all afternoon.

During the week of November 7-11 before the event, the storytellers will present story programs in six Harlandale ISD Elementary schools: Gillette, Rayburn, Schultze, Bellaire, Carol Bell, and Stonewall Flanders.

Produced by the San Antonio Storytellers Association, Story Tellabration!tm could not happen without generous funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Storytelling Network, and the San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture. Additional support was provided by the San Antonio Public Library, Harlandale Independent School District, and the Tejas Storytelling Association.

Storytelling Club this school year came with enthusiasm and anticipation because our club is a troupe. Our students are middle schoolers at Lopez Middle School in the North East ISD School District. I'm excited because they're teens! Yes! Elementary storytelling clubs have been rewarding to sponsor for the last 24 years but to work with the talents of middle schoolers - well, there's nothing better! I had asked professional storytelling friends to create a short clip telling our students how cool it is to storytell. The YouTube above was used as our promotional video for all the students at Lopez. A huge thank you to Richard Martin, Priscilla Howe, and Deeptha Vivekanand.

We began our first storytelling troupe meeting Sept. 20th. We were greeted by seven very enthusiastic 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I'm usually greeted with 25 - 40 elementary aged kids so I was a bit disappointed - but only for a brief moment. After a fun ice breaking activity, I soon realized just how talented these kids were! The activity follows:

What'd You Have For Dinner?

This activity came out of Kendall Haven's book Super Simple Storytelling: A Can-Do Guide for Every Classroom, Every Day.

1. Students pair up. Each student tells their partner what he/she ate for dinner last night. Give the kids about 4 minutes for both to talk.

2. Number each pair #1 and #2. The 1's must communicate their partner's meal as if it was the most delicious delightful meal ever eaten. The teller is not allowed to alter the contents of the meal. (This is where I realized just how intelligent and imaginative 11 - 14 year olds are!)

3. #2 partners are then asked to describe their partner's meal as if it were the most disgusting, worst excuse for food in the history of dining. The teller is not allowed to alter the contents of the meal.

​We had so much fun with this activity! Try it out with your own students.

Listening Resources

Below are a handful of listening opportunities for our students to gather tales they enjoy! We discussed creating Bare Bone index cards once they find a story they love. We're working on scary tales right now because we'll be telling tales at the Guadalupe State Park on Oct. 29th, large moon, tall trees, dark river - perfect setting for this Halloween outing! If you know of other resources with fantastic listening tales, please let us all know by commenting below! Happy October!

The Storytelling Round Table at the 2016 Texas Library Association Conference in Houston helped sponsor renown storyteller and mime, Antonio Rocha (pronounced Hosha with a short o sound). His TLA pre-conference workshop was titled "Beyond the Voice: Using Movement, Expression and Mime in Storytelling."My head is still spinning with Antonio's tips on incorporating mime in our storytelling journey. With permission from Antonio, I thought it best to blog about this unforgettable day in hopes that what was taught will be practiced often until we can try out some of the movements at a storytelling event in the future.

Antonio worked with us on pulling a rope, opening a door, and using our eyes! I've included clips to help you see what was taught.

Thank you Antonio for sharing your passion with us. You make it all look so easy when in fact, it's a lifetime of constant interaction with the world, research, practice, and finally the beautiful portrayal of story you share with us on stage. Thank you!

When you look out a window, you see what's in front of you. But when the light hits the window just right you can see a reflection. which becomes a mirror. Storytelling can not only show listeners the world but storytelling can also show a reflection of yourself.

I was fortunate to present this workshop at the 2016 Tejas Storytelling Conference in Waco June 2016. The theme of the conference was "Bridging Our Differences: Embracing Our Diversity"My inspiration came from children' author, Grace Lin's Ted Talkon Windows and Mirrors through reading. Grace Lin is a wonderful children’s author who presented the best Ted Talk ever regarding books on all of our shelves. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is one of my favorite books! I l realized storytelling could easily be substituted for books. Gist: Kids need storytelling to be mirrors, making connections to what they hear and see. But they also need storytelling to be windows. Kids who always see themselves in stories need to be able to see things from other view points. By empathizing and sharing, kids can see outside of themselves. Look at the stories you tell – is there a balance of windows and mirrors?

WHAT IS THIS?

This image was floating around Facebook for a while and I realized it's a great diversity analogy to use - it took me a while before I walked in the shoes of the artist. Give it some time and you'll see it also!

I included various activities that have been used quite successfully in the classroom preK - 12th grade to help our students see both the window and the reflection of themselves and others through story. I've attached the files below rather than make this blog much longer. Please try them out. Each activity works in all curriculum contents.

The gem of all gems for me was a website I uncovered just a week ago. It's called The Literacy Shed- sharing visual literacy ideas and tips. These short animated clips are placed in categories and most are without words. What a perfect beginning for storytellers and writers. So many of these stories allow us to walk in others' shoes while at the same time making connections with our own lives. Coolest website ever!!!

It's always nice to hear other contributions to this subject, new ideas and old ideas that we've forgotten about. Please share!

Whether your summer library's theme is based on physical fitness, heroes, or another motivating theme, I would love to storytell for your patrons because there's a story for everyone!

I'm honored to be on the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Artist Roster which means funding is available through their grant application process. TCA will pay up to half of my fee! Please check them out HERE. The grant application deadline for summer performances occurring June 15 - August 31 is May 1, 2016.

The ancient art of storytelling comes alive when involving the listeners into the story through actions, musical instruments, puppets, and strings! My stories are folktales, fairytales, personal tales, urban legends, and spooky tales! Please give me a call or email me soon!

Listening to the diversity of stories shared by members and visitors of our San Antonio Storytellers Association monthly gathering at the Brookhollow Public Library brings out the best in me as a storyteller. From 6:30 - 8:00p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month, everyone in drawn to hear an array of tales ranging from Cowboy poetry, personal tales, traditional folktales and fairy tales, to outlandish tall tales and fantastical stories that couldn't possibly happen (or could they?) I feel at home with this group of tellers and listeners because every story is a work in progress - constantly being cut and polished revealing that diamond in the ruff.

Where Can I find that Perfect Story?

Our brains are wired for stories - that's how we communicate and make emotional connections to understand our surroundings and new knowledge. Here's a few ideas and resources that have always worked for me when it comes to finding, cutting, and polishing a tale:

1. Personal tales - Talk to family members to recall those poignant moments in your life that you'd like to share through a story. Keep a small paper notebook or digital notebook with you always to jot down common phrases and idioms that you definitely want to include. (Take it from me, if I don't write them down within five minutes of hearing them quoted, they're out of my brain forever.)2. Folktales, fairy tales, tall tales, legends and myths - You can discover an infinite amount of these tales in the 398.2 section of your local library. Find a comfortable chair, read through those tales that appeal to you, and you'll find that perfect one that makes you want to read it over and over again! Eventually, you'll close the book, and retell that special story in your own words.3.Cowboy Poetry - You can find cowboy poetry in the 811 section of your library and online. It's fun to watch some of the cowboys in action through Youtube. This should give you enough inspiration to write your own story poem to present!4. Facebook,Blogs, podcasts, websites, videos, oh my! - Stories galore live in the world online - thank goodness! - You'll find and bookmark your favorite places to visit when it comes to stories but stop by our SASA website first. We have many fine storytellers who share their favorite tales, websites, and blogs.

Karen Chance's Blog- "Catch a Storybug" blog is a fantastic site because Karen has placed her story resources in theme categories which makes it easy to find a tale based on a season, holiday, or subject of interest.

We'd love to hear from you through comments. What are some of your favorite resources you use for storytelling? What types of tales do you prefer to tell and why? Do you have any questions regarding our San Antonio Storytellers Association?

Yay! I celebrated after publishing my last A-Z post. I was one of those nerds that ran up and down my country road with "Eye of the Tiger" song blasting through my iPhone earbuds. I did some turn-arounds and a few cartwheels - totally worth it! One of my neighbors thought I had won the HGTV's Martha's Vinyard Home that I entered twice every day. Nope, but this probably felt just as good!

My theme was " Every Hero Has a Story" and bridged storytelling and books to this summer library reading theme. I learned so much about hero characteristics, story heroes that had these characteristics, and made a conscience effort to share tales that could be told or read to kids from age 5 - 14. I now have posts that I can refer back to but also for others who are interested in the various tales I shared to find and use.

It was pretty obvious to me that there weren't many children's librarians/elementary school/middle school educators participating in this challenge so I'm not sure how useful my posts were to the majority of participants. I appreciated every visitor and hope they found worthy morsels of information, stories, ideas that could be used as springboards for later use. As such, it's my goal to share this A-Z Challenge with my educator friends. Unfortunately, April is a busy month for teachers so I'm guessing not many would be able to participate but I would love for them to know they could scout us out through our list.

What I LOVED:1. LOVE the A-Z Challenge Survivor T-shirt! So cool. This was the reward I was looking for. Please, pick one up for yourself - you deserve it! I'm hoping to run into you this summer. How will I know it's you if you're not wearing THE shirt?2. LOVED the support from A-Z Twitter and your posts placed daily to encourage all of us. I'm new and it's fantastic to read the invaluable tips given for bloggers!3. LOVE the fact that I have time now to go back and read the blogs that everyone is raving about!4. LOVED the comments posted on each of my posts. A million thank you's to all of you - such a boost!5. LOVED the menions and organizers who stopped by every once in a while to check on me - thank you!

Changes I would make: 1. This is my second year to complete the challenge and still found our 1000+ list daunting to organize. I appreciated the tips given throughout the challenge (bookmarking the blogs visited, sign up to follow favorite, blogs, etc.) but do feel that the list need to be organized into it's categories. Many folks forgot to place their category code next to their titles so it became hit or miss.2. I'm still very new to blogging and probably could bring more folks in but I just don't know how to at this point. I like the fact that my blog is connected to my website but noticed most bloggers are using blog sites only.3. As a storyteller, I tried to keep my posts short but short to me could be long to many others - ugh!4. I would love to have your blogging tips and will take them all in and try it differently next year!

Favorite Blogs I visited:

1. Adventures in Storytelling- Julie Moss is a storyteller from Colorado who blogged on several interesting storytelling topics from A-Z.2.Diary of an Urban Housewife- Kate wrote wonderfully, ingenious posts about3. Kari Neumeyer ~ Rhymes with Safari - Wonderful blog on training and caring for dogs - her two shephards are beautiful and well loved!4. Story Crossing - Pam Faro is a fabulous storyteller from Colorado who invested first hand research into Story Slams which are popping up all over the U.S. She attended and participated in a few slams and came out learning so much. Thank you Pam for sharing!5.Dreams and Dimensions - Jyotsna Bhatia's theme was based on conversations between two people. Her writing was excellent!6. The Fluff is Raging: Niall Mcardle's splendid blog posts on classic films was so entertaining - quite enjoyed the journey!7. A-Z Scripture Adventure: Loved her scriptures each day and the connections made to each. We're reminded to repeat the scripture 10 times to hold each close to us!8. Living My Imperfect Life - fun, short poetry that went with a word for that day's letter.9. Tales Out of School - Mary is a retired teacher who also storytells and her blog posts were of her bygone days in the classroom - talk about storytelling. She shared wonderful tales that we can all connect to in and out of the classroom.10. The Multicolored Diary- Storyteller and writer, Csenge Zalka, wrote out 26 amazing epics that opened my eyes to adventure. Her humorous, upbeat writing inspired me to dig deeper into some of these epics of which she would tell us its heros and highlights!

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

Who wouldn't want to wear a cape, black mask, and handle the coolest, sharpest sword in the world - one that he easily carves his trademark Z into any surface? Zorro is the village of Los Angeles' Robin Hood - steals from the rich and gives to the poor. The setting of Johnston McCulley's story of Zorro is in old California where oppression rules. Native peasants are abused and innocent bystanders are persecuted by corrupt rulers and their army. Diego Vega has no choice but to disguise himself as Zorro by night to be the champion of freedom for those in need of his services.

Why not inspire others to be champions - whether it be to stand up and ask questions, help out someone in need, work as a team to create something great for others, or to build confidence to make a new friend. Read a few of these tales or tell your version of Zorro and have the kids make their marks!

The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley

Young Zorro: The Iron Brand by Diego Vega

Minnie and Moo and the Musk of Zorro by Denys Cazet

It's been a fantastic month of theme blogging. I'd like to thank all of you who have visited my posts and those that left comments. It's always such a boost to read what you have to say! Please pass my blog on to teachers, librarians, families who would benefit from stories of bravery. We're all heroes - tell your tales!

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

http://www.stagecoachmoving.net/scm/content/wat-we-do.htm

Tip your cowboy hats to our heroine today - San Antonio Sue. Yes sir, she sure proved herself in my rendition of a fun, total participation, western vaudeville. She turns the sleepy little Western town of Yawning Gulch into a rip roaring adventure! There's good guys, bad guys, and everything in-between. Gather as many folks as you can, assign parts to your audience, practice them there parts and then off you go, narrating this Western tale. Guaranteed to get some belly laughs while your audience acts it out! this is a story no one will forget!

I think it would be pretty easy to change the setting of this tale to just about anywhere. Where do you live? How would the characters change in your town, state, country? I'd love to hear from you!

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

Illustration by H. J. Ford in Andrew Lang’s Yellow Fairy Book, 1894.

I've invited my good friend and storyteller extraordinaire, Mary Grace Ketner, from San Antonio, TX to be my guest blogger for today's letter. She successfully completed the A-Z Blog Challenge 2014 and did a marvelous job convincing us to find treasures in the 398.2 section of our library (Dewey Decimal for Folktales and Fairytales). This is her "X" is for Xmen Post:

Even teachers are sometimes surprised at how long primary students will sit fully engaged in a good story. One such tale which I love is my 25-minute version of “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship.” Meeting all seven “mutant heroes" and singing “Otchi Tchornya” after each one, then seeing how each uses his special power to achieve the fool’s goal keeps kids sitting on the edge of their seats, singing along and laughing at the strange and wonderful characters. The story has many fringe benefits, too, such as appreciation of differences and the role of kindness and respect in advancing one’s goals. I’m looking forward to getting to tell it at Library Summer Reading Programs for this year’s theme, “Every Hero Has A Story.”

Louis Armstrong singing and playing "Otchi Tchornya"

Before there was Stan Lee, there were X-men, mutant heroes. Storytellers call them “magical friends” for, with their mutant capabilities and unnatural powers, they befriend the hero in his quest. When I tell “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship,” I call the seven heroes Hearsalot, Runsalot, Shootsalot, Eatsalot, and—by the time the last three arrive, kids are joining in: “Drinksalot!” “Strawsalot!” “Sticksalot!”Without them, the Fool of the World could never have brought back the water of life from the well at the world’s end or foiled the Tsar’s tricks or married the Tsarevna!Hooray for X-men!

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

﻿Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. --Leo Buscaglia

The story I've chosen for "W" is a wonderful Jewish folktale from Afghanistan about an unlikely hero - a poor cobler who lives each day to its fullest, always counting his blessings and having faith that God will provide. The title of this tale is "The Wooden Sword." It truly speaks to me because I believe there must be a worry gene in me of which I can't seem to get rid of. This tale reminds me to just take each day with a smile, with faith, and with a little help from my friends! The A-Z Blog challenge had me worried and yet here I am with the rest of you, enjoying every single morsel of blog post visits! Have faith my friends, we are almost victorious.

I am a self professed worrier! Stories like this remind me to stop, take a deep breath, and believe that faith will get me through. Are you a worrier? What do you do to help remedy that impulse? I'd love to hear from you.

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

Vasilisa the Beautiful at the Hut of Baba Yaga, by Ivan Bilibin

Vasilisa the Brave is a Russian folktale filled with Cinderella-like circumstances but ever so much more adventuresome. Vasilisa proves herself brave , courageous, and kind in the midst of jealous and mean step mother and step sisters, along with walking in the dark woods, by herself to the witche's house on chicken feet to retrieve light. Are you kidding - no way would I even consider taking on those tasks. Well, unless I had the coolest doll EVER! A doll Vasilisa's mother gave her right before dying. Her mother instructed her "Remember and heed my last words. I am dying, and together with my maternal blessing i leave you this dool. Always keep it with you and do not show it to anyone. If you get into trouble, give the doll food, and ask its advice. When it has ate it will tell you what to do in your trouble." I had a Chatty Cathy doll in second grade. I took her with me everywhere but she would only say a few sentences when I pulled her string - don't think I received the advice needed as Vasilisa did. Kids will love this tale of heroism in danger - and how fortunate to have a doll who talks to you and helps to solve all the problems that Vasilisa confronts.

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands which lie in Torres Strait, the waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. (From Wikipedia)

I found this lovely Australian myth in the book entitled Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters, edited by Kathleen Ragan. It, along with several other Australian treasures can also be found in the full text of "Myths and Legends of the Torres Strait" - wonderful tales! Asou Thaiday told this story on July 6, 1966 on Yam Island in the Torres Strait. Yam island is about a mile in length and half a mile in width with a population of around 340. The Torres Straits include reefs, rocks, and islands located between the northern most tip of Australia and New Guinea.

Uzu, the White Dogai, is an unlikely heroine because most dogais are evil tricksters, always looking to snatch a man to grab as a husband or even children, as told in other dogai tales. Uzu was a good dogai, kind to all who might be in trouble. I've included the entire text of "Uzu, the White Dogai" below. Enjoy!

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

Howdy folks. This here Texas tall tale stands up to the best of them, like Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, and Davy Crockett. I figure fourth graders on up to eighth graders will certainly enjoy this picture book. Thunder Rose is filled with exaggerations and live action, bigger than life situations that gotta be solved, and our heroine comes out smellin' like a rose. I also tip my Stetson cowboy hat to illustrator, Kadir Nelson - her pictures are amazing.

Summary:A feisty baby girl was born on a dark and thunder storm night and with her adoring parents looking on, she grabbed the lightning and thunder above her and with her first breath declared that she was partial to the name Rose, so Thunder Rose stuck. Rose grew up not knowing failure. Why, on day two, she lifted a cow to drink its milk dry, two years, she played with scrap iron, and at the ripe old age of twelve, wrestled a stampeding herd of wild longhorn steer and tamed the monster steer with a song-a song her parents' love had graced her with. She conquered all who stood in her way which included a gang of desperadoes she tied up in iron and dropped in jail. Thunder Rose tackled a cloud with her lasso, squeezing it for water to halt the drought (which must have been perty fierce 'cause even the rocks were crying out in thirst. Problem was her efforts resulted in two tornadoes comin' at her. Full of determination, bravery, and confidence, Rose knew she needed a plan first so she sat back and thought it out. Thunder Rose used her talent of singin' and calmed those tornadoes. As Rose journeyed back to Abilene, TX, she realized the gentle power of music in her heart. Rose was a hero that changed her world through kindness, determined focus, thoughtfulness, and song. Thunder Rose's stories of her amazing, almost impossible feats spread all over the West and now you're hearing about them too!

I'm hoping to adapt Jerdine Nolan's original tall tale of Thunder Rose to storytell in the schools and libraries but I'll need to ask for permission from her first. Emailing begins tomorrow!

"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.

I've had a storytelling club in most of the schools I've taught in for over 20 years and came to realize about seven years ago that there are some fun apps out there that certainly support the craft of storytelling. Story Wheel has been a huge favorite of my storytelling students.

Ranging from 3rd to 5th grade, one of my student groups of 4 created a hero myth on the Story Wheel app titled "Posidon's Son." You can listen and watch the taleHERE.Please feel free to "like" the story and leave a comment for the kids - they would get a kick out of it. Thanks in advance.

Description of the Story Wheel App:

This app cost $2.99 and it's well worth it. One ipad can be shared with up to 6 kids. Stay away from the "Story Wheel Lite," which is free, but you create two stories with it and that's it. Enter each student's first name, spin the wheel and land on an image. You'll have up to 30 seconds to record your part of the story using the image. The next person's turn. He/she knows what the previous students had recorded and spins to the next image. Record the continuation of the tale incorporating this new image. As each student progresses, the previous images are displayed on the side so each can keep track of the storyline. I certainly allow collaboration when needed.

Record and Listen to Your Stories

On the wheel, you have the choice to click on "Listen to Stories." This is where you'll find the stories recorded by your family, friends, or students. Click on the story title. Your voice is played back with the images you spun. The cool part is that each page of the story shares the person's name, the animated image used, and of course, his/her voice. This is a great confidence booster for the tellers. They are their own worst critics and only become better tellers with each story told.

Share Your StoriesOnce you have created your story, you can share it online, or publish it as an iBook. You can post it to their website for the world to listen.